see the onset of neurosis, phobias and other acquired mental disorders. As with many things in life, a great blessing is also a grave curse. We seek truth, beauty, and justice while competing, waging war, torturing and destroying. We are compassionate and cruel, kind and ruthless, affectionate and disloyal at any given moment.
So input is processed forward through the reactive, social and thinking brains. The brain surveys the territory for physical dangers and attacks on the ego, being ever-alert to possible blows to our respect and self-image. With this priority in mind, we can’t help but to take things personally. At least, we cannot help ourselves if we allow our brains to run the show unchecked.
In addition, at the cognitive level we think about what we feel. So some of our thoughts are also processed forward, looping through the emotional brain and back into the thinking brain. Thus, we create an emotional loop, or spiral, where we work ourselves into anger, fear, depression and frustration without any external stimuli. Our thoughts and recalled memories can trigger emotional states just as effectively as someone else’s words or actions.
Therefore, the rational, thinking brain is also the irrational, rationalizing brain. The logical brain is also a master at conjecturing, exaggerating and fantasizing. Essentially, our brains are very effective at driving us crazy.
This is where emotional intelligence comes into the picture. You can outsmart the brain by observing it and interrogating it, assessing if the input you perceive poses a threat or reward, really. You can achieve success by comparing your mental chatter to the reality of the situation, discerning between what you have the power to change and what you do not, then finding ways to cope and adjust. You can discover what would motivate you to see new approaches and possibilities. You learn how to be the master of your mental processes instead of being the slave.
As a result, when you outsmart your brain, you see options when you thought you had no choice. You hear the true voice
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